Chapter Text
[Shot Story: The Spirit Eater.]
[Vollachia – Lunar Time]
[Water Time]
Seated on a sofa in a more suitable house after the old dwelling where a girl lived was destroyed, while remaining completely silent, the mind of the spirit devourer, the former sworn sword of Princess Benedict, was quite... pensive. Pensive about her decision, and about leaving her sister in the care of her foster brother. Did she like the boy? Before, she would have said no, she would have said she detested him, detested him for having "humiliated" her sister. But she couldn't say that now. When the boy arrived, she found him inconvenient and a complete fool who thought too highly of himself, but, with time, and by admiring his eyes and mannerisms, she saw that he lacked pride, not the pride she knew, like the pride of standing above everyone else, but rather a pride that prevented him from being belittled or denigrated, a new kind of self-pride that he defended, and didn't seem to allow himself to be broken by anything. He seemed quite... calm, too calm even for the environment he was in. But seeing that he was more than she thought, she saw that he... seemed desolate. He wanted to go home, and he couldn't, she saw that... and she felt a gentle pang in her chest when she had that conversation with him. She might have spent little time with him, but, without noticing, she came to appreciate it quite a lot, as much as she appreciated being with her sister... Prisca...
“Prisca…” whispered the spirit devourer, sitting on the sofa while, in her hands, she held a glass jar with a yellowish-white liquid in it, one of the condiments she was growing to appreciate, so much so that she could say she was addicted to it, liking the condiment so much. If the condiment ran out, she wouldn't have to worry about it, because her foster brother had given her the recipe and the method of preparation, so she could make it again if she felt like eating more in the future.
Looking up, her gaze vaguely disconnected, she took in the ordinary ceiling of the house she currently occupied. A house given to her by the current Emperor of the kingdom of Vollachia, who offered her a place in the reshuffling and restructuring of the hierarchy of the Divine Generals. A warrior classification that, from time to time, was reinstated when the emperor of the kingdom changed, and now, he was restructuring them once more, recruiting whomever he deemed suitable to fill such positions.
And she received the offer, but she didn't know how to respond to it. Should she accept? Should she refuse? She wasn't sure. Her mind only lingered on the two of them, wondering if they were alright, if they had escaped safely, and if Subaru was taking proper care of Prisca. But, if she followed that logic, it was most likely that yes, Subaru was strong. Although he was quite inexperienced and overconfident, he remained strong, and with Prisca's instructions, he would certainly become even stronger than he appeared.
While she was sitting, the door to the room was opened without her permission, revealing a certain teenage boy, dressed in typical Western clothing, with blue hair and a beautiful face, almost like that of a beautiful girl. He walked over and sat down in front of the spirit devourer, relaxing on the sofa opposite her as he rested his arms on the head of the sofa.
“Aahhhh, seriously, how long are you going to stay quiet and still? They'll be fine, don't worry.” Said the swordsman boy, waving his hand in a gesture of disdain at her concerns.
Still silent, the spirit devourer narrowed her eyes, shaking her head, she stared at the swordsman with pure revulsion at him and his mannerisms. “Quiet, I don’t want to hear anything from you. And don’t come in here thinking this is just any old place.”
“Calm down, calm down, devourer. There’s no need for all this anger.” The swordsman said, still with his calm expression, for he knew, he was certain, that she would do nothing against him, and if she did, he would kill her easily, although Vincent strictly forbade him from doing so. Looking at her, the swordsman’s gaze focused on the glass jar she was clutching tightly, refusing to let go of it. “And what’s that about you? What would that be?”
"That's none of your business, you idiot. Now get out of here before I incinerate you whole," said the spirit devourer, clearly irritated by his question about the mayonnaise in her lap.
“Wow, wow! The little dog is annoyed and growling~. Sorry about that, I only came here to get your answer to the emperor's invitation.” The swordsman said, standing up and walking around the room. He leaned on the head of the sofa behind the spirit devourer and looked at her with interest, especially at the pot in her arms. “So, what is your answer?”
"I don't know," said the spirit devourer, still uncertain what she should answer if she accepted... what she should do?
“If you accept, who knows, maybe one day you’ll be reunited with the princess who was falsely declared dead. Just saying….” The swordsman said, shrugging, before waving his hands and grabbing something from them.
"Huh?!" The spirit devourer looked at her arms in shock, seeing that she no longer had the jar with her.
“Hmm~, hmm hmm hm~! Wow, this tastes good!” said the swordsman, holding the jar that had previously belonged to the spirit devourer. With the jar open, he took some of the mayonnaise with his fingers and tasted it, appreciating its flavor.
Staring at him in shock, the spirit devourer quickly stood up and lunged at the swordsman, aiming to retrieve her condiment so he wouldn't spoil it with his filthy fingers. But as soon as she leaped and lunged at him, the swordsman simply dodged her attack, laughing at her and still holding the pot in his hands.
“Give it back, you filthy rat! You lecherous pig!” shouted the spirit devourer, still trying to retrieve the pot and stop the idiot from consuming everything and spoiling the condiment.
“Haha, now I understand why you were clinging to this, the flavor of this is incredible! Who made it? Was it that boy over there? It was Natsuki, right? Give me the recipe.” Said the swordsman, still dodging the devourer's advances while he held onto the jar and ate a few more portions of the mayonnaise, only leaving the spirit devourer completely enraged with the swordsman.
While the pair were arguing in the residence, further away, in the emperor's palace, Vincent Abelux sat at his desk, surrounded by various papers. Bureaucracy never leaves him in peace, not at all. But something still troubled him: some notes and predictions he found in the royal treasury about a catastrophe, information taken from Stride Vollachia's diary, which he found in the Crystal Palace library. The Doom of Vollachia. The Endless Black Sky. This still worried him, in a way he couldn't fully comprehend.
“The Endless Black Sky…” Vincent whispered, placing the paper on the table. He would put it away as soon as possible, but in his mind, he was already formulating a plan to deal with it. For it might be unbelievable, but he clearly saw that this was not a lie or a deception. It was a prophecy to be fulfilled that day. That is why he aimed for the throne; preventing this catastrophe from happening was what he valued. “I will be prepared for that day… Prisca… I only hope you are not affected by it.”